i have gradually come to the conclusion that people in bangalore have too much money. do i hear a few "duh!"s here? no its not a long overdue divine revelation. more of an empirical observation...:p
this certainly seems true for those headed towards the IT oases. and rather striking in the traffic strongholds of k r puram, marathahalli, airport road, hosur road... find them flooded with bumper to bumper altos, zens and santros. not to forget the thousands of yellow board sumos and indicas (indicae!? :D) (tata motors is surely laughing its way to the bank!) but forget the taxis here, lets look at the altos, zens and santros. each can hold upto 4 in cosy comfort. why dont they car-pool!?
but no. they insist on getting their own rs.3-4lac vehicles, pay about 53 bucks a litre and spend hours cussing at the bumper ahead... what a pleasant way to start/end your day at work! i was aware of paying for your entertainment, but you also pay to screw your mood? as if a day at work wasnt enough to do the honours!
they all come up with excuses that they are forced to match their timings with the others... given a normal working day, how difficult is that? and bring in some urgency and emergencies and you always have a cab/rick to do handle them. would you still not end up saving time/money? dunno... please let me know if i have a flawed reasoning here... oh yes... money wastage was never a concern here :D
for those wondering how i manage... well, i use a private bus along with 25 others. and my paycheck doesnt give me the luxury of investing in a car... not on bangalore's roads for sure!
Good point...just that there's the issue of getting along with the person(s) in the car, and not back-seat driving! I know ppl who set out car-pooling with good intentions, and can't agree on anything anymore :P And then, fuel prices seem worth the peace of mind...
ReplyDeleteErm, peace of mind relatively.
Yeah Wooster... I know how much I've thought about buying a car... and how many times I merely have to take one look at the traffic on the roads and decide that even using BMTC would be better than owning a car! :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry, Am one of those sitting in a Santro and cursing the traffic. In Mumbai though, not Bangalore. Where using your own car is actually cheaper than a rickshaw or a taxi. Like your blog.
ReplyDeleteI certainly know for sure that u like car pooling or bike pooling, having done the driving job here :p
ReplyDeletebut u must appreciate that these ppl are getting financially independent n driving one's own car is probably one of the ways they choose to flaunt their new found wealth!!
Bangalore's traffic and road sense put me off when I visited in May. And trust me, rickshaws are absolutely NOT a solution... Still haven't figured out how the meters work there. Got fleeced royally by the rickshaw-wallahs. And came back feeling grateful for Bombay's public transport.
ReplyDeleteAh! And I forgot to ask why is everything a one-way in Bangalore???
ReplyDeletetg: well, dunno abt back-seat driving, but i guess if everything fits in place (IFF :P) then # cars goes down & so does time spent on the road :D
ReplyDeleteraaga: and fuel prices blowing holes in the pocket :P
batul: me only thinking of car-pools... cant even think of a rick/cab in b'lore!! then would need my monthly sal everyday :D thanks for dropping by!
mukund: for the financialy independent, i can offer them a vent to flaunt it... my bank account! always hungry for more! :D
~j~: 2 qts for b'lore... why the one-ways, and for the love of life, why change its direction every once in a while!?
oyee! now that you dumped dear ol' B'lore in more ways than one, be nice :P :P and you havnt blogegd in aages...
ReplyDeletegetting back to it tg... neither have you for that matter :)
ReplyDelete